Sen. Mitch McConnell said Thursday he will oversee defense spending once he relinquishes his long-running post as Senate Republican leader, a decision ensuring that Maine Sen. Susan Collins will take over as the chamber’s top appropriator.
The Kentucky Republican will assume the chairmanship of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense. The role dovetails with his constant message that America needs a bulked-up military to deter threats from adversaries such as Russia, Iran and China.
The transition comes as McConnell is ending his role as the longest-serving Senate leader in history, just as Republicans prepare to take majority control of the chamber after big gains in this month’s election. Republicans elected South Dakota Sen. John Thune, a top deputy to McConnell, as the next Senate majority leader.
McConnell’s move clears the way for Collins, a centrist Republican, to take the chair of the full Senate Appropriations Committee. There was speculation in the spring that McConnell could elect to use his seniority to take the top spot on the panel, but Collins has said all along that she anticipated taking the gavel in early 2025 if Republicans won Senate control.
The Maine senator will be well positioned to bring federal money to her home state, which was the top recipient in the first round of earmarks after Collins took the leading Republican spot on the panel following the 2022 election. Her ascension on the committee was one of her top selling points during a heated 2020 campaign against Democrat Sara Gideon.
Fighting back against isolationism within his own party, McConnell has championed sending weapons and other aid to Ukraine as it fends off Russia’s invasion. That stance could clash with President-elect Donald Trump’s “America First” doctrine on foreign affairs.
The outgoing top Republican is also a team player who worked with Trump on a tax cuts package and the appointment of conservative judges — including three justices to the nine-member Supreme Court — during Trump’s first term as president.
McConnell said Thursday he’s also set to become chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, a more low-key panel at the center of big issues, both at the Capitol and in the country. It puts McConnell in positions to affect business on key topics, namely federal elections and voting rights as well as the procedures of the Senate, including the debate around the filibuster.
“Defending the Senate as an institution and protecting the right to political speech in our elections remain among my longest-standing priorities,” he said.
Story by Bruce Schreiner. BDN writer Michael Shepherd contributed to this report.
